& Scams 101 The Best "Last-Chance" Business Opportunities  Why do I call them "Last-Chance" business opportunities? Because when I found them, I was literally on my "Last Chance." I had lost $30,000 in stupid business ventures (click here for The Gruesome Details). (Like most of our links, this one will open a second browser window, so you can look around all you like without getting lost; just close the window when you're ready to come back here.) My family was fed up. (Of course, my family didn't know I'd blown $30,000.... nobody knew that until I spilled my guts on the internet.... but I guess they noticed the bills weren't getting paid or something.) It seems that for three years, every time I joined some stupid new "program," I swore THIS was the one! I mean, how can it miss? It's completely DIFFERENT!! There's NO WAY I can lose this time!! Just look at this GREAT product!! This is going to SELL ITSELF!! What's the matter with you people.... can't you see EVERYBODY wants this?? ANYWAY, I'M DOING ALL THE WORK SO WHAT ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT, HUH??" (Ummmm.... could it be the credit card balances that were starting to look like The National Debt and the fact that our ability to buy food and electricity in the same month was becoming questionable??) Finally.... (very gradually and none too soon).... I started to learn how to tell a legitimate "biz op" from a stupid "biz op," I settled in with the very best ones I could find, and I stopped listening to every smooth talker who promised to lead me down that golden road to "financial independence." That was when I stopped losing money. (I didn't make money for quite some time after that, but I stopped losing it, which is one giant step in a very good direction.) Without realizing it, I had been getting into "programs" that were dealer-supported.... and that's ALWAYS a recipe for disaster (as explained here.) I didn't want to admit it, but I knew I was on a sinking ship, and the pressure was eyeball-popping. Thanks to the terror that finally made me stop and look at what I was doing, a generous relative who gave me a loan, and 10 credit cards that agreed to settle for less than half of what I owed them (which, incidentally, was over $56,000), we survived intact and I started Friends In Business. (About the credit cards.... I negotiated the settlements myself, without any help from a "consumer credit counselor" or a lawyer or anyone else. And if there hadn't been a generous relative to give me a loan, I would have negotiated completely manageable payment schedules myself.... the kind that would put their so-called "hardship plans" to shame. If you're drowning in debt and the idea of declaring bankruptcy gives you hives, click here for more details.) In case you're wondering.... I am consistently making money now (between $1,000 and $2,000 a month on the internet), but I haven't "hit pay dirt" yet, which I blame on two things: (1) As much as I would love to walk away from my other business (medical transcription), the reality is, I can't, and there just aren't enough hours in the day to develop and promote my internet business. (2) This is REAL. What's that supposed to mean? (1) It means a REAL business doesn't "explode" overnight. (2) And it means it requires a consistent investment of time. The "consistent" part is hard for me because my work load varies from 8 to 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I'm not willing to give up all my family time to grow a business. So I "dabble." But my "dabbling" makes money.... unlike all "the programs" that came before.... and my goal of working full-time on the internet has now graduated to the "completely realistic" category. In fact, with recent setbacks in my transcription business, it is coming off the back burner and becoming my #1 priority.
WHAT WAS WRONG ABOUT THOSE AND RIGHT ABOUT THESE? Well, the word "program" should have been the first clue. You can't base your future on "a program." I now equate the "P" word with "scam" in many cases and "just plain stupid" in others. Think about it. When was the last time you heard the owner of a successful independent grocery store or mailbox center or beauty shop say, "Wow! This PROGRAM works great for me!" In my mind, "program" implies a magic formula, and I've learned that there isn't any "magic" except a viable product, a solid plan, and good old-fashioned hard work. In many cases, it simply means, "We move lots of money around; if you give us your money, somebody else's money might land on YOU!" What else? Well, there's NO SUCH THING as a product that "everybody wants." (That was a hard one for me to grasp.) And there is NO SUCH THING as a product that "sells itself." (Major letdown!) No matter what they tell you, customers will NOT.... I repeat, NOT.... come to you. You're going to have to go out and round them up yourself. No matter what your product, YOU have to find your niche (and I can promise you it won't be "everyone"), YOU have to target that niche, and YOU have to make customers out of strangers. There's no way around it. You have to S-E-L-L (but don't panic.... you don't necessarily have to do it face-to-face, or even ear-to-ear!). Even in a service business, you have to SELL (ugh!) your service, and you have to SELL (groan!) yourself. If I'd been able to SELL my transcription service without fear, I expect I'd be rolling in money by now. Most "programs" promise you won't have to sell. They say, "We'll do all the selling for you!".... you know, with those great "live opportunity calls" or "a staff of professional closers." And if the company won't do your selling for you, then the product will sell itself, right? And all you have to do is "mail postcards" or "make a couple of phone calls" or "give people this phone number." HORSEDOODY!! If that's true, what do they need you for?
ANSWER: THEY DON'T NEED YOU.... THEY NEED YOUR MONEY.
I said the opportunities I'm going to tell you about are scam-proof. That's true... but you shouldn't take my word for it. Before you many ANY decision about ANY opportunity, do yourself a favor and take the time to read Scams 101 from first click to last. And visit The Message Board; bounce your ideas around, and make some new friends at the same time. When you get back here and start reading about these five scam-proof opportunities, keep one thing in mind:
MONEY IS MADE BY SELLING A PRODUCT OR SERVICE.
In these (100% legitimate, guaranteed scam-proof) businesses.... You, the dealer, are not required to buy products each month to keep money "circulating" and "make it possible to continue paying commissions." You have to find customers to do that. (Silly Wabbit! The "program" people don't need customers.... they have dealers!) And the opportunities that involve actually paying money and signing up with a company are different than the typical "biz op" we've learned to hate. They won't pursue you. And they won't bleed you dry. That means they won't try to sell you worthless inventory or piles of grossly overpriced sales aids. They won't try to suck you into expensive "workshops." And they won't require more money to enter the "next level," become "certified," maintain "active status," or find out what they have for you to sell each day. And they don't compete with their own dealers. They only succeed if their dealers succeed.
DOESN'T THAT JUST MAKE YOU GRIND YOUR TEETH?????????
That's because the scammers use a variation of it all the time, and coming from the corner of a sleezeball's mouth, it means absolutely nothing. Coming from a LEGITIMATE company.... it means everything. Like it or not, the ONLY reason anyone gives a hoot about YOUR success is their own profit. And when they rely 100% on DEALER sales to REAL customers to make that profit, it is in their OWN best interest to support your efforts. Make sense? The first opportunity I'm going to tell you about requires no "people contact" whatsoever, and it's perfect for me because the very idea of personal selling makes me pukey. If you're a "people person," then one of the others may be right for you. Well that's more than enough preamble. Here's the list:
INTERNET MARKETING
This really doesn't fall into the category of "biz op" at all, because it is a business you create yourself, from the ground up.... and having tried it all and ending up successfully starting from scratch twice, I can personally vouch for the fact that there is NO better way to go.
The idea is to carve out your very own niche on the internet. You don't need a product going in. You don't even need to start out with any IDEAS. The ONLY thing you need to concentrate on at first is learning everything you can about internet marketing. As you do, you'll be amazed at the ideas you come up with. I am constantly knocking my own sox off with my great ideas (and in three lifetimes, I'm sure I could have a bang-up time actually following through with them :-)
And what about money.... do you need a bunch of that?
You tell me:
You're paying for internet access already, you can create and maintain a web site for under $20 a month, and you can effectively promote that web site without paying ONE PENNY for advertising.
I would say no. You don't need money. In fact, I can't think of another business that requires LESS money than internet marketing.
With the proper knowledge, this can be the perfect business for someone like me. There's NO face-to-face contact.... and unless you want it, there isn't even any ear-to-ear contact. It's just me and my computer, and I dearly love the internet and the people I've met here. What could be better? (For me, absolutely nothing.)
CLICK HERE to find out how I went from $0 to $1,000-2,000 a month on the net and how you can do the same thing.
KAESER & BLAIR ADVERTISING SPECIALTIES
If you work well with people, are an "idea person" and prefer the "consultant" image to the "salesman" image, then I personally believe this is the BEST opportunity "a people-person" can ever hope to find. I hate selling with a purple passion, so I'm no longer an active dealer with K&B, but that doesn't make the opportunity any less outstanding.
CLICK HERE for more information on Kaeser & Blair.
THE VISTA CATALOG (MAXAM WHOLESALE)
You can get a sample of this wonderful catalog absolutely FREE, and you can become a dealer absolutely FREE. They aren't interested in selling you an opportunity.... they are interested in having you sell their products. (Golly whiz, what a concept!) Some of the "suggested retail prices" are guaranteed to choke a zebra, but the wholesale prices are fantastic, so you have a lot of room to fiddle with pricing.
Don't make the mistake of thinking you can just slap these products up on the internet, offer a rock-bottom price, and buy a wheelbarrow to take your money to the bank. It doesn't work that way. For a year and a half I did exactly that, and I had less than a handful of sales.
So make no mistake.... you'll have to do some heavy-duty face-to-face selling if you really expect to succeed with this. If that sounds like fun, I highly recommend that you check them out. It's GREAT stuff! (In fact, I plan to start marketing their waterless cookware again on my FormerlyFat site, but only after the site, and "the community," are firmly established and I have built a following.... which is all part of learning how to make money on the internet).
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